Fun Business Fun Money Podcast
EP 073 – Maximise your business growth and results in less time
Time is our most precious resource.
You can’t save it or store it, everyone has the same number of hours. No matter how much money you have, the time is still the same.
That’s why its super important for YOU to choose where you spend or invest that time.
In this longer coaching episode we’re covering 3 tips to help you maximise the time you have so you can grow your business without the ‘hustle and grind’ vibe.
TRANSCRIPT
Hey there, and welcome to the Fun Business Fun Money podcast!
You know, one of my favourite things I hear from podcast listeners is how much they appreciate these episodes not being all waffly and drawn out.
Honestly, theres nothing that can’t be covered in under 30min in my world. My coaching sessions with clients are generally 45min, and thats simply because we end up chatting about random stuff for 10min or so. We want to maximise that 30min of actual coaching time!
When its just me solo like this though? I don’t talk for the sake of talking. You’ve got a business to run and a life to live, and so do I!
So we shall continue as we’ve started – with one longer coaching episode on a specific area of your business, like this one, and one shorter, snappier, quick tip, tool or tactic that you can implement fairly quickly and easily.
Today we’re talking about TIME, specifically about how to run your business in 20 hours a week. Or less, or more, whatever lights YOUR fire. Its totally up to you! The point being, you CAN keep your business activities to 20 hours per week, ok?
It doesn’t have to be an all-consuming, soul-draining, hustle and grind kinda thing either. That lie has been well and truly over sold and its time that got in the bin where it belongs.
If you WANT to operate like that, have at it, you do you! I’ll be over here doing things in 20 hours a week or less, K?
Time is our most precious resource, we all know that right? You can’t save it or store it, everyone has the same number of hours in a day, a year, no matter how much money you have, the time is still the same.
That’s why its super important for YOU to choose where you spend or invest that time.
Are you going to use it to consume someone else’s content? I mean, thats what you’re doing by listening to this podcast, so no shade is being thrown here! HA!
But make sure you’re consuming something useful, with a purpose. I’m all for a binge watch of something pointless on Netflix, or sitting down with a good novel for a few hours.
But only when thats what my brain and my soul NEEDS. It has a purpose – it enables me to rest, reset, recharge, so I’m ready for the next growth or learning phase.
Making effective use of your time is what creates a sense of freedom. I LOVE THAT FEELING!
You can have a quality of life that is unmatched by anything else, when you get more intentional about your time.
I like to look at it as though I have projects and opportunities – not obligations.
Obligations do NOT feel good. Projects and opportunities are a whole lot more fun!
I don’t HAVE to spend a few hours each week putting out podcasts or writing emails or social media posts. But those are projects I actually enjoy, along with coaching clients of course.
MAXIMISE BUSINESS GROWTH IN LESS TIME
Today I’ve got 3 tips for you on managing your time effectively and getting shizz done in 20 hours or less per week.
Why 20 hours?
That’s a small enough number for you to get really clear on your boundaries and value your time.
It forces you to do the things you’re committing to and let go of the other distractions.
You’re not giving yourself TOO much time.
Those 20 hours might be filled with a whole lot of small things. Don’t go ignoring, discounting or disregarding these things just because they’re small, or easy, or don’t take much time.
When I say 20 hours per week, I mean the actual time you spend working in and on your business.
I’m the first to admit I spend a lot more time than that THINKING about my business, what I want do today, the kind of stuff I want to share, thats constantly on my brain. Honestly my business is almost always in my head, and thats a bit of a Ruler archetype trait.
What we’re talking about here is a shift away from the traditional employment mindset, where you’re paid to be ‘at work’ for 40 hours or whatever it is.
We all know a lot of that time is spend faffing about, chatting to someone in the kitchen while you make a cuppa. Scrolling through things, then distractions come along and it takes you 15 minutes to get back on task.
No one is 100% productive 100% of the time.
Can we all agree that 20 hours per week is a completely reasonable and achievable amount of time to spend on client work, coaching calls, marketing, networking, and maintaining your business?
You may end up working a LOT more during a growth phase, a launch. But those are exceptions where you put a lot more energy into a specific project that has a deadline.
During regular stabilising or learning phases? 20 hours a week is a great standard to aim for.
Lets go through these 3 tips to maximise your business growth, then we can talk about what to do with the REST of your time!
TIP #1- DECIDE
Decide that 20 hours is the time you have available for client work, marketing, creating content.
20 hours is IT – don’t overthink it OR overwork it!
Its not about working ‘hard’ or even smarter. Its simply about committing to the time you have and getting it done to the exclusion of all the other shiny objects and distractions.
One of my favourite exercises I use with clients for their money mindset is to work out what their time is actually worth on an hourly basis. I don’t advocate ANYONE charges by the hour, this is simply to see where you might be wasting your valuable time on pointless things.
Here’s a quick question for you – what’s the first thought you have at the idea of working 20 hours per week and making $500K in a year?
Is it awesome? Scary? Inevitable, like “duh, of course thats what I’m gonna do!”
Whatever your response to that is – making $500K which is literally a number I pulled out of my head – it reveals an underlying belief about what you think is possible for you.
It could trigger ideas that it would be hard work, you’re going to burn yourself out. There’s something for you to dig a little deeper into, this concept of ‘working hard’.
And I don’t mean you should be staring at a vision board and wishing it would come true either.
You have to take action and do the work! But it doesn’t have to be HARD work, like you’re wading through a swamp for the next 20 years kind of thing. That’s not fun AT ALL, I’m not down for that and you shouldn’t be either.
Decide how many hours a week YOU want to work.
TIP #2 – CHOOSE THE DAYS YOU WORK
Pretty simple, right? But coming back to that traditional employment scenario, our culture dictates we work 5 days a week from Monday to Friday, and we have 2 days off.
If thats what you want to do in your business, great! If you want to work on weekends, thats great too! YOU choose what days and times you work.
I have my schedule set up so I do client calls in the first and third weeks of the month. They’re all concentrated there so I can give that my full attention. And on the other weeks I can give creating content or new things for clients my full attention.
On those client weeks I still keep Mondays free for setting up anything I need in the week ahead, its a call free day.
Set the days and hours you want to be ‘face to face’ with clients.
And set the boundaries to uphold your standard of working 20 hours per week.
#3 – PUT YOUR FREEDOM ON YOUR CALENDAR
This is a big one because most of what creative entrepreneurs spend time on is NOT on their calendar. And its not what moves their business forward.
The things that DO create momentum and growth are serving clients, creating value-packed content that converts, and audience building, or networking. That can be in person if thats your kinda thing, or growing your network online like I do.
Let go of obligations from the past, the things that don’t give you joy or freedom, that don’t make it possible for you to scale and have an impact. You end up feeling busy and stressed out, like you’ve been working hard, but there’s no money and no sense of freedom.
Think of your calendar as your freedom template.
And get really good at saying NO. Get resourceful, prioritise your freedom. And sometimes you’ve just got to ask for help from others.
Ask yourself – is this thing in my calendar directly related to serving clients, audience building or making money?
A request for your time needs to be addressed from a place of power, not obligation. You can simply say I’m not available for that. Thats not a fit for me. Thats not going to work for me.
And most important of all – DON’T APOLOGISE! No is a complete sentence, it doesn’t need to be followed up with a reason or apology.
And thats something for the Nurturer archetypes out there who love to overdeliver, and give and give and give. Or feel really bad when you say no. You dont’ need to give a reason.
Your time is your time, your freedom is your freedom. Its up to you to claim it and own it.
Something that can help you with this is my START STOP CONTINUE guide – a handy dandy PDF that helps you prioritise the activities in your business.
What do you want to start doing more of? What do you want to get rid of? Do less of? What do you love and want to continue doing?
Its about maximising the time you have available and putting your energy into the things you actually enjoy, that add value, and make money. The rest can be delegated or get in the bin!
You’ll find the link to download your START STOP CONTINUE guide in the description of this episode, and in the show notes.
My 3 tips to help you keep your business to 20 hours per week and maximise growth:
1 – Decide thats how you’re going to operate
2 – Choose the days you work
3 – Put your freedom on your calendar
What freedom looks like for ME is…
Work in the morning when I’m at my best mentally, I’ve got a fresh brain.
Play in the afternoon when I need to recharge with a bit of sunshine, movement, or meditation.
Then a bit of work in the evening on those client call weeks as well, to make sure my lovely UK people aren’t missing out!
What does freedom look like for YOU?
I’d love to know! Send me a DM, I’m @funbusinessfunmoney, all one word, on both Facebook and Instagram.
Connect with me on LinkedIn and send me a DM there, I’m the only Deirdre Amies in the world.
You can hit reply to ANY of my emails if you’re on my weekly FUNday email list, or you can send a fresh email to hello@deirdreamies.com
That’s what I’ve got for you today – a little bit of boundary work goes a long way towards creating the freedom YOU want in your life.
Your business doesn’t have to be all consuming all the time, it doesn’t have to be a hustle OR a grind.
It can be fun, easy, balanced and simple. And it can be done in 20 hours a week – or less. You get to decide what it looks like.
Take care, have fun getting shizz done in less time, and I’ll catch you in the next episode!
Want to be more focused?
The START STOP CONTINUE guide is for online entrepreneurs who want to declutter the shizz outta their business!
Work out what you REALLY need in your business so you can make MORE money working LESS hours.
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